Functional element, a component assembly consisting of a functional element and a sheet metal part and also a method for the attachment of the functional element to a sheet metal part

ABSTRACT

A functional element having a functional portion, a generally tubular rivet portion and a ring-like sheet metal contact surface is characterized in that features of shape are provided at the rivet portion for co-movement of the sheet metal part during the formation of the rivet bead, in particular at the free end of the rivet portion and/or at the radially outer side of the rivet portion, at least in the region adjacent the free end of the rivet portion. A component assembly comprising a functional element and a sheet metal part as well as a method for the attachment of a functional element to the sheet metal part are also claimed.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/619,430 filed Jan. 3, 2007, which claims priority of German patentapplication No. 10 2006 000 918.5 filed Jan. 6, 2006, and the completecontents of all of the applications are incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a functional element having afunctional portion, a generally tubular rivet portion and a ring-likesheet metal contact surface. Furthermore, the invention relates to acomponent assembly consisting of such a functional element and a sheetmetal part as well as to a method for the attachment of the functionalelement to a sheet metal part.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Functional elements of the above named type in the form of fastenerelements have been sold by the company Profile Verbindungstechnik GmbH &Co. KG in various forms for many years under the designations SBF, SBK,RSF and RSK. The elements themselves and also a method for theattachment of the elements and the die buttons that are used aredescribed in detail, among other things, in the German patents DE3447006 C2, DE 3446978 C2, and DE 3835566 C2.

Fastener elements of this kind are either introduced in self-piercingmanner into the sheet metal part so that the element has a piercingand/or rivet portion. They can, however, also be introduced intopre-holed metal sheets, with the pre-holing frequently taking placeusing a so-called preceding hole punch which pierces the sheet metalpart directly prior to or during the attachment of the fastener element.This possibility only exists for functional elements which are formed ashollow body elements, for example nut elements, because the holed punchmust pass through the fastener element.

The possibility also exists of using functional elements which areprovided with a piercing rivet portion in such a way that the sheetmetal part is holed by the piercing and/or rivet portion prior to orduring the attachment process. When realizing the functional element asa bolt element, the slug which arises in this way is frequently clampedwithin the tubular rivet portion where it can also exert a supportfunction for the rivet bead. For hollow body elements the piercing slugis normally removed by means of a follow-up ejection pin which is passedthrough the hollow body element.

Irrespective of whether the corresponding functional element isself-piercing or is used with a pre-holed metal sheet, the piercingand/or rivet portion has to perform not inconsiderable deformation workon the sheet metal part because it has to ensure that the sheet metalpart is deformed into a tubular collar in the region of rivetedconnection. The piercing and/or riveting section is subsequentlydeformed radially outwardly around the free-standing end of the tubularcollar in order to form a recess for receiving the tubular collar, therecess being U-shaped in cross-section. In this connection, the tubularcollar is frequently folded back on itself so that a ring-like fold ofthe sheet metal is present within the U-shaped recess formed by thebeaded over rivet portion.

The requirements placed on the piercing and/or riveting section,irrespective of whether these operate with or without pre-holing arethus, on the one hand, to have sufficient stability to be able toperform the required deformation work and, on the other hand, after theformation of the rivet bead, to achieve sufficient strength in theregion of the rivet bead that the strength of the connection that isaimed at is ensured. This is necessary for the firm attachment of anarticle to the sheet metal part. For a fastener element this signifiesthat the strength of the piercing and/or riveting section mustcorrespond to the strength class of the screw. For the attachment of afastener element to the sheet metal part the piercing and/or rivetingsection may not buckle. On the other hand, the deformability must bepresent so that the piercing and/or riveting section can be reshaped toform the rivet bead which is U-shaped when seen in radial cross-section.

These contrary requirements lead to a situation in which the radial wallthickness of the tubular piercing and/or riveting section must have aclear association with the effective size of the fastener portion. Theterm “effective size of the fastener portion” will be understood to meanthe strength which is required from the fastener element per se.

Even if the said fastener elements have been successfully used inpractice for many years, they nevertheless have certain disadvantages,namely that the attachment of the elements, irrespective of whether thistakes place with or without pre-holing, can lead to the formation ofsmall chips which, in the course of time, can be trapped in the regionof the die buttons or elsewhere in the tools and presses that are usedand can lead to jamming and deformation of sheet metal parts that arebeing processed, which are entirely undesired. The cause for these smallchips is extremely difficult to establish because one cannot visualizethe creation of the chips in a large press; since the working regionconsists of solid metal and there is no possibility so to say to provideobservation windows which would make it possible to consider themanufacturing process without significantly impairing the course of themanufacturing process.

With the design of the piercing and/or riveting section which isdescribed and claimed in European patent 1430229 one succeeds insubstantially suppressing the formation of the chips. Nevertheless, asituation can arise in which the rivet connection in the region of theturned over end of the rivet bead or in the region of the sheet metaledge of the backwardly folded sheet metal part does not always appearperfect and it can above all transpire that the folded back part of thesheet metal part is cut into or pressed in in crescent-like manner bythe turned over end of the rivet portion so that parts of the sheetmetal project as a chip from the rivet bead or can indeed by fullyparted and cause problems in the tooling and leave marks in the sheetmetal part.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to ensure by special shaping ofthe piercing and/or riveting section that the sheet metal part which isfolded back in the region of the rivet bead is completely covered by therivet portion, whereby it is no longer possible for parts of the sheetmetal to project from the rivet bead as a chip or indeed to be partedoff. Furthermore, this object should be satisfied with relatively simplemeans.

In order to satisfy this object, a functional element of the initiallynamed kind is provided with the special characterising feature thatfeatures of shape are provided at the rivet portion to achieveco-movement of the sheet metal part during the formation of the rivetbead, in particular at the free end of the rivet portion and/or at theradially outer side of the rivet portion, at least in the regionadjacent the free end of the rivet portion. Through such features ofshape it is possible to design the method in such a way, and withouthaving to change the shape of the die buttons that are used from thepresent shape, that the sheet metal part is co-moved with the rivet beadduring the rolling process for the formation of the rivet bead and inthis way to ensure that the sheet metal is fully covered over by therivet portion. In this way it is no longer possible for parts of thesheet metal to project from the rivet bead as a chip or indeed to beparted off.

A multiplicity of features of shape enter into question which cancontribute to satisfying the object including:

-   a) ribs which extend axially at the rivet portion, which extend at    least from a region adjacent the contact surface up to at least    shortly before the free end of the rivet portion,-   b) a bead provided at the free end (59) of the rivet portion and    extending radially beyond the outer cylindrical surface of the    tubular rivet portion, especially ahead extending as a ring around    the tubular rivet portion and-   c) locally raised portions and/or recesses at the free end (59) of    the rivet portion, which are preferably provided radially outside of    a generally conical or rounded inner surface of the free end face.

The above named features can be used alone or in combination.

Other shapes are also conceivable which can have the same action, forexample a knurling, in particular cross-knurling at the cylindricalouter surface of the piercing and/or riveting section.

The functional element in accordance with the invention can be realizedas a self-piercing element, i.e. the free end of the rivet portion canbe used to pierce the sheet metal part. In particular the free end ofthe rivet portion can have, at the radially inner side, a ring surfacewhich diverges in the direction away from the ring-like contact surface,for example in the form of a conical cutting surface, and can have arounded drawing surface at the radially outer side. The correspondingshape can be realized in accordance with the above recited Germanpatents, and indeed either in a form such as it is described in theabove named German patents, or in accordance with the likewise abovenamed European patent.

Particularly preferred embodiments of the functional element inaccordance with the invention can be found in the further subordinateclaims 5 to 31.

The present invention relates to a component assembly consisting of afunctional element in accordance with the invention and a sheet metalpart having an opening and indeed, irrespective of whether the openingis pre-formed or is formed by the piercing and/or riveting section, withthe special characterising feature that the ring-like sheet metalcontact surface contacts the sheet metal part at one side, in that therivet portion extends through the opening in the sheet metal part, inthat the marginal region of the opening in the sheet metal part isfolded back on itself and in that the folded back portion of themarginal region of the sheet metal part is completely covered by thebeaded over region of the rivet portion.

It is particularly favourable with a component assembly of this kindthat in realizing the above named feature a) of the functional elementthe ribs are reflected in the marginal region of the opening of thesheet metal part, i.e. form corresponding depressions there. Through thecooperation between the ribs and the depressions in the sheet metal partan additional security against rotation is achieved.

In a component assembly of the above named kind, it is also of advantagethat in realizing the feature b) the bead engages around the folded backportion of the marginal region of the sheet metal parts at its radiallyouter boundary. In this way the bead, so to say, folds a stop for thefolded back portion of the marginal region of the sheet metal part andin this way prevents the sheet metal projecting beyond the free ringedge of the folded back sheet metal part.

When realizing the above designated feature c) the raised portions andrecesses at the free end of the piercing and/or riveting section arealso reflected in the sheet metal part, i.e. form corresponding recessesor projections there and likewise offer increased security againstrotation.

The method for the attachment of the functional element in accordancewith the invention and having a tubular rivet portion, in which therivet portion is passed through an opening in the sheet metal partwithin a collar region of the sheet metal part and is rolled over bymeans of a die button having a generally rounded rolling surface, whichis circular in plan view, in order to form a transverse approximatelyU-shaped rivet bead, is characterised in that features of shape areprovided at the rivet portion which move the sheet metal part with themduring the rolling movement. A further method of satisfying the objectcan be found in claim 37.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The invention will be explained in more detail in the following withreference to embodiments and to the accompanying drawing in which areshown:

FIGS. 1A and 1B two different phases of the attachment of a customarySBF bolt element to a sheet metal part in order to explain the problemin the region of the rivet bead, with both FIG. 1A and also FIG. 1Bincluding an enlarged illustration of the region of the rivet bead,

FIGS. 2A and 2B two drawings corresponding to FIGS. 1A and 1B but of anelement in accordance with the invention in which the desired formationin accordance with the invention in the region of the rivet bead arises,with the element of FIGS. 2A and 2B having ribs at the outer side inaccordance with the invention,

FIGS. 2C and 2D drawings which are similar to those of FIGS. 2A and 2Bbut which show the processing of a bolt element in accordance with FIG.2G,

FIGS. 2E to 2O different embodiments of the rivet portion or piercingand/or riveting section of the bolt element of the invention which areall provided with ribs at the outer jacket surface of the rivet portion,

FIGS. 3A to 3L various embodiments of bolt elements in accordance withthe invention which are provided with a ring bead in the region of thefree end of the rivet portion,

FIGS. 4A to K various embodiments of bolt elements in accordance withthe invention which are provided with local raised portions at the freeend of the rivet portion, with the FIGS. 4Ii to 4Iv showing variousrepresentations of the element in accordance with FIG. 4I, and indeed inFIG. 4Ii a longitudinal section in accordance with the section plane i-iof FIG. 4Iii, in FIG. 4Iii an end view of the free end of the rivetportion in the direction of the arrow ii of FIG. 4Ii, FIG. 4Iiii a sideview of the head part of the element in accordance with the arrowdirection iii of FIG. 4Iii, FIG. 4Iiv a side view of the head part ofthe element in accordance with the arrow iv of FIG. 4Iii and FIG. 4Iv alongitudinal section of the element in accordance with FIG. 4Icorresponding to the section plane v-v of FIG. 4Iii and FIGS. 4Ki to 4Kvcorresponding representations to those of FIG. 4Ii to 4Iv but of theelement 4K,

FIGS. 5A-5C perspective illustrations of three nut elements inaccordance with the invention which are provided with axially extendingribs at the rivet portion,

FIGS. 6A-6C perspective illustrations of different nut element inaccordance with the invention which are all provided with a ring bead atthe free end of the rivet portion,

FIGS. 7A-C representations of different embodiments of nut elements inaccordance with the invention which are all provided with raisedportions at the free end of the rivet portion, with the FIGS. 7Ci to7Civ showing various representations for the element of FIG. 7Canalogous to the representations of the FIGS. 4Ii to 4Iiv.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In all the examples explained the same reference numerals are used forthe same features or same shaped features, optionally with a prime or adouble prime when it is necessary to distinguish one embodiment from aprevious embodiment. It will be understood that all descriptions whichare given in connection with the individual features also apply to allother features of shape or embodiments in which the same referencenumerals are used, irrespective of whether the corresponding referencenumerals are provided with or without a prime. Thus, unnecessarily longrepetitive descriptions of individual features can be avoided.

Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B it is shown how an SBF bolt element knownper se can be introduced in accordance with the German patent DE 3447006C2 in self-piercing manner into a sheet metal part 14 by means of a diebutton 12. The bolt element 10 consists of a shaft part 16 having athread 17 and a head part 18 with a tubular rivet portion 20 at the sideof the head part remote from the shaft part 16, with the tubular rivetportion 20 merging into a ring-like contact surface 22 of the head part18 and with the shaft part 16, the head part 18 and the tubular rivetportion being arranged concentrically to the central longitudinal axis24 of the element 10. In the region of the ring-like sheet metal contactsurface 22 there are noses 26 providing security against rotation, inthis example six in number, which are obliquely set and bridge thetransition from the tubular rivet portion 20 into the ring-like contactsurface 22.

Between the noses 26 providing security against rotation there arerecesses 28 in the ring-like contact surface 22, likewise six in number,which are located in each case between two noses providing securityagainst rotation and likewise uniformly arranged around the centrallongitudinal axis 24 of the element 10. One can see from therepresentation of FIG. 1A that the ring-like contact surface 22 is hereslightly conical.

The die button 12 has at the free end face 30, which supports the sheetmetal part 14, a ring-like recess 32 having a central cylindricalprojection 34 which merges via a gently rounded, radially outwardlydirected so called rolling surface 36 into the base surface 38 of thering recess 32. The base surface 38 in turn merges via a radius 40 intoa cylindrical wall region 42 of the recess 32. This cylindrical wallregion 42 subsequently merges via a slightly rounded portion 43 into awall 44 which diverges conically in the direction towards the head part18 of the bolt element and subsequently merges via a rounded edge 46into the free end face 30 of the die button.

The use of the die button 12 with a self-piercing element in the form ofan SBF bolt in order to form the rivet bead is extremely well known inpractice and also from the above named German patent documents.

In general, the free end of the tubular rivet portion 20, which has arounded drawing surface 48 at the outside and a small conical cuttingsurface 50 at the inside, is used in order to first of all indent thesheet metal part 14 in the region of the ring-like recess 32 and to drawit downwardly into a collar 15 until the sheet metal part meets the freeend of the central cylindrical post 34 of the die button, whereby thepiercing slug 52 is cut out of the sheet metal part. During this, thefree end of the tubular rivet portion 20 is pushed through the hole inthe sheet metal part which arises in this way and is rolled outwardly bymeans of the rounded rolling surface 36 up to and into the positionwhich is evident from FIG. 1B. One can see from FIG. 1B that the tubularrivet portion is beaded over by the collaboration with the ring-likerolling surface 36 to form a U-shaped recess 56 in which the collarregion 58 of the sheet metal part, which is folded back on itself, isreceived. One can see, in particular from the enlarged representation atthe bottom right in FIG. 1B, that a part 58′ of the folded back collarregion 58 of the sheet metal part is located outside of the beaded overfree end 59 of the tubular rivet portion and in principle forms aring-like chip there. In practice, the formation often takes place insuch a way that the ring-like folded over end region 59 of the tubularrivet portion 20 is pressed deep into the backwardly folded collarregion 58′ whereby the backwardly folded collar region is locatedradially outside of the beaded over free end 59 of the rivet portion andis only connected to the sheet metal part via a very small web. This cango so far that the small web is torn or that the backwardly folded sheetmetal part has radial cracks whereby it is possible that arcuate orcrescent-shaped regions of the backwardly folded collar are separatedfrom the sheet metal part and can migrate further into the tools of thepress which are used for the attachment of the element.

One can also see from FIG. 1B that the piercing slug 52 is fixedlyclamped or jammed inside the tubular rivet portion 20 as a result of thedesign of the central cylindrical post 34 of the die button, and indeedstaked or caulked there, so that after the removal of the componentassembly out of the press and from the die button, i.e. removal of thesheet metal part 14 with the bolt element 10 riveted thereto, thepiercing slug is located within the beaded over tubular rivet portionsuch that it cannot be lost, and indeed also stiffens this region of thecomponent assembly.

In practice, the sheet metal part 14 is normally pressed with ahold-down member of the setting head (not shown) against the free end 30of the die button so that the sheet metal part remains flat in thisregion. One can also see from FIG. 1B that the ring-like support surface60 of the bolt element 10 is aligned with the upper side 62 of the sheetmetal part in FIG. 1B or is fractionally set back relative to thelatter. This has the advantage that in the screw-on situation, in whicha further component is arranged over the shaft part of the bolt elementand is secured to the component assembly (10+14) by means of ascrewed-on nut, sits flat on the sheet metal part 14 and on the supportsurface 60 of the bolt element.

The FIGS. 2A and 2B now show how, by using a bolt element 10′ inaccordance with the invention corresponding to FIG. 2L, the folded backregion 58 or 58′ of the collar 15 comes to lie completely within theU-shaped recess or mount 56, i.e. radially within the free end 59 of thebeaded over tubular rivet portion 20. The bolt element 10′ correspondingto FIG. 2L has the same noses 26 providing security against rotation andrecess 28 providing security against rotation as the SBF element 10 ofFIGS. 1A and 1B, it has, however, additionally longitudinal ribs 70 ofrounded shape and six in number at the outer surface of the tubularrivet portion which extend in the axial direction and are alignedangular-wise with the recesses 28 in the head part of the element, i.e.are arranged with the same angular pitch around the central longitudinalaxis 24 of the bolt element.

It has been shown that these features of shape in the form oflongitudinally directed ribs 70 also dig into the collar region 15 ofthe sheet metal part 14 during the formation thereof and so to say forcethe sheet metal part to move with the tubular rivet portion 20 duringits beading over, so to say free of slippage, whereby the desiredformation in the sense of the encapsulated folded back sheet metal part58′ of the collar region 15 is achieved.

It is not essential that the bolt element has the ribs 26 providingsecurity against rotation and the recesses 28 providing security againstrotation of FIG. 2L, on the one hand, because the longitudinal ribs 70likewise form a security against rotation relative to the sheet metalpart and, on the other hand, because a security against rotation iseither not necessary for some applications, for example when the shaftpart 16 of the bolt element 10′ is a cylindrical bearing surface withouta thread, or because the security against rotation is achieved withother means, for example by an adhesive which is provided at thering-like contact surface 22 and at the outer surface of the tubularrivet portion 20, which cures under pressure and which serves for anadhesively bonded connection between the head part 2 of the element andthe sheet metal part.

The FIGS. 2E to 2K and also 2M and 2N show different possibilities forrealizing functional elements in bolt form with longitudinal ribs ormodified longitudinal ribs such as 70. At this point it should also benoted that the elements of FIGS. 2E to 2N could be nut elements insteadof bolt elements. Then an internal thread would be provided in the headpart of the element axially above the tubular rivet portion (not shownhere).

FIG. 2E shows a simple embodiment in which no features providingsecurity against rotation are provided other than the ribs 70 extendingin the axial direction which are provided at the radially outer surfaceof the tubular rivet portion.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2F the six longitudinal ribs 70 aresupplemented by six noses 26′ providing security against rotation whichare respectively arranged at the centre between two adjacentlongitudinal ribs 70. In this respect, the noses 26′ providing securityagainst rotation bridge the ring-like contact surface 22 and subdivideit into six arcuate regions 22′.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2G, recesses 28 are provided in the head part18 of the bolt element in addition to the ribs 70 directed in the axialdirection, with the recesses 28 locally interrupting the ring-likecontact surface 22. The FIGS. 2C and 2D show how a bolt element inaccordance with FIG. 2G can be attached in accordance with the inventionto a sheet metal part and are very similar to FIGS. 2A and 2B. One notesat the right side of FIG. 2D that the sheet metal/head part connectionin the region of the recess 28 is slightly different from the connectionat the left-hand side in the region between two recesses 28 or twolongitudinal ribs 70. In both regions, the folded back sheet metal part58′, i.e. the folded back region of the ring collar 15, is located fullywithin the U-shaped recess 56 which is formed by the beaded over rivetportion 20, i.e. the backwardly folded part 58′ is so to sayencapsulated by the beaded over rivet portion 20 in all regions.

The design in accordance with FIG. 2H corresponds largely to that ofFIG. 2G is, however, additionally supplemented with noses 26′ providingsecurity against rotation which are arranged in the manner which isshown and described in connection with FIG. 2F.

In the embodiment in accordance with FIG. 2I the basic shape of thedesign of FIG. 2H is retained but the longitudinal ribs 70 are extendedat their ends adjacent to the free end face of the tubular rivet portion20 over the rounded surface of the free end of the tubular rivet portion20, i.e. extending by the additional region 70′ in FIG. 2L In this way,a functional element is so to say provided which not only has ribsextending axially at the rivet portion, which extend at least from aregion adjacent the contact surface 22′ up to shortly before the freeend 59 of the rivet portion, but rather are extended beyond this so thatthey form locally raised portions at the free end of the rivet portionin the region of the rounded drawing surface 48 which are providedradially outside of a generally conical or rounded inner surface 50 ofthe free end.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2J ribs 70 extending only axially at the rivetportion are provided in accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 2E. Thehead part 18 is, however, differently realized and indeed in that here apronounced conical contact surface 22″ is provided.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2K the axially extending ribs 70 at thetubular rivet portion of FIG. 2J are supplemented by recesses 28providing security against rotation which are arranged in the sameradial planes as the longitudinal ribs 70, i.e. the recesses 28providing security against rotation are aligned in the radial directionwith the axially extending ribs and positioned such that they locallyinterrupt the conical contact surface 22″.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2L, the embodiment of FIG. 2J is furtherdeveloped in that noses 26 providing security against rotation areprovided at the head part which bridge the transition between thetubular rivet portion and the conical sheet metal contact surface 22″.The noses 26 providing security against rotation are here disposed ineach case at the centre between adjacent axially extending ribs 70. InFIG. 2M the design of FIG. 2L is supplemented by recesses 28 as in FIG.2K.

The embodiment in accordance with FIG. 2N corresponds essentially tothat of FIG. 2M, except that in this embodiment a tubular rivet portionwith a polygonal cross-section, more precisely with twelve sides 20′ isused, with the internal hollow space of the rivet portion 20′ beingformed in the polygonal shape with likewise twelve sides. Here, thelongitudinal ribs 18 are arranged at each second corner which is in eachcase formed by two adjacent side surfaces of the tubular rivet portion20′.

The head part 18′ is also of polygonal shape and likewise has twelveside surfaces.

Finally, FIG. 2O shows an embodiment similar to FIG. 2M having noses 26providing security against rotation and recesses 28 providing securityagainst rotation in which, however, the axially extending ribs 70 at therivet portion 20 are likewise continued over the rounded surface 48 atthe free end 59 of the tubular rivet portion 20 in accordance with theembodiment of FIG. 2I and there form raised portions 70′ in accordancewith FIG. 2I.

The FIGS. 3A to 3K show embodiments of bolt elements which have onecommon feature, and indeed in form of a bead 80 provided at the free endof the tubular rivet portion and extending radially outwardly beyond theouter cylindrical surface of the tubular rivet portion.

At this point it should be noted that the elements of FIGS. 3A to 3Kcould also be nut elements instead of bolt elements. Then an internalthread would be provided in the head part 14 of the element axiallyabove the tubular rivet portion (not shown here).

In the embodiment of FIG. 3A this ring bead 80 is used with a boltembodiment in accordance with FIG. 2F but without longitudinal ribs 70which extend in the axial direction. That is to say that the elementalso has noses 26′ providing security against rotation which radiallybridge the ring-like sheet metal contact surface 22, i.e. bridge thisand subdivide it into six uniformly distributed curved regions 22′.

In FIG. 3B these noses 26′ providing security against rotation aresupplemented by recesses 28 precisely as when used for example in theFIG. 2H embodiment. Here, the six recesses 28 are also arranged shiftedby half a pitch relative to the noses 26′ providing security againstrotation, i.e. each recess 28 is located at the centre between twoadjacent noses 26′.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3C the basic form of the bolt elementdescribed in conjunction with FIG. 2J is used, i.e. with the pronouncedconical contact surface 22″, but without the ribs 70 extending in theaxial direction in accordance with FIG. 2J.

In accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 3C, noses 26 providingsecurity against rotation are again used which bridge the transitionbetween the tubular rivet portion 20 and the conical contact surface 22.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3D the basic embodiment of FIG. 2M is againused, however here the longitudinal ribs 70 extending in the axialdirection are omitted and are replaced by the ring bead 80.

The embodiment of FIG. 3E is very similar to that of FIG. 2J but thelongitudinal ribs 70 are supplemented by the ring bead 80, and indeed insuch a way that the longitudinal ribs 70 merge adjacent to the ring bead80 into this bead at the free end of the tubular rivet portion 20 intothis bead. One can see that here the ribs 70 extending in the axialdirection do not extend radially beyond the ring bead.

The embodiment of FIG. 3F is very similar to the embodiment of FIG. 3Dexcept that here the recesses 28 providing security against rotation areomitted and the longitudinal ribs 70 are added at the same angularpositions as the recesses 28 in FIG. 3D and designed in the same way asin FIG. 3E. Noses 26 providing security against rotation which bridgethe transition between the tubular rivet portion 20 and the conicalcontact surface 22″ are also used here.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3G, these noses 26 providing security againstrotation are omitted and are replaced by recesses 28 which lie in thesame radial planes as the longitudinal ribs 70 extending in the axialdirection.

In FIG. 3H the noses 26 providing security against rotation areintroduced again, i.e. used in addition to the recesses 28 of the FIG.3G and here the noses 26 providing security against rotation arearranged shifted by a half pitch relative to the recesses 28, i.e. ineach case arranged between two adjacent longitudinal ribs 70 extendingin the axial direction.

In FIG. 3I the embodiment of FIG. 3A is again used except that hereadditional ribs 70 providing security against rotation are used whichextend in the axial direction.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3J the noses 26′ of the embodiment of FIG. 3Iproviding security against rotation are omitted. They are replaced inFIG. 3K by recesses 28 providing security against rotation which lie inthe same radial planes as the longitudinal ribs 70 extending in theaxial direction.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3L the embodiment of FIG. 3K is supplementedby the noses 26′ providing security against rotation.

The embodiments of FIG. 4A to FIG. 4K have as a common feature thelocally raised portions 90 at the free end 59 of the tubular rivetportion 20, more precisely stated at the rounded drawing surface 48.

At this point it should be pointed out that the elements of FIGS. 4A to4K could be nut elements instead of bolt elements. Then an internalthread would be provided in the head part 14 of the element axiallyabove the tubular rivet portion (not shown here).

In the embodiment of FIG. 4A the head shape with the narrow conicalring-like contact surface 22 is used similarly to the embodiment of FIG.2F except that the longitudinal ribs 70 of FIG. 2F are replaced byraised portions 90.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4B the recesses 28 providing security againstrotation are additionally used in addition to the noses 26′ providingsecurity against rotation of FIG. 4A, are aligned in radial planes withthe local raised portions 90 and are each disposed at the centre betweentwo adjacent noses 26′ providing security against rotation.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4C the basic design is similar to FIG. 4Aexcept that here the noses 26 providing security against rotation areomitted and the local raised portions 90 at the free end of the rivetportion are simultaneously used with longitudinal ribs 70 extending inthe axial direction at the tubular rivet portion which are aligned inthe radial planes of the locally raised portions.

In FIG. 4D both the noses 26′ of FIG. 4A providing security againstrotation and also the longitudinal ribs 70 extending in the axialdirection of the tubular rivet portion 20 are used.

In FIG. 4E the basic shape of the bolt element 10′ with a pronouncedconical contact surface 22″ is used with longitudinal ribs 70 and withnoses 26 providing security against rotation here bridging thetransition from the tubular rivet portion 20 into the conical ring-likecontact surface 22″. Here, the noses 26 providing security againstrotation are also used shifted by a half pitch relative to the locallyraised portions 90 at the free end of the rivet portion, whereas thelongitudinal ribs 70 are aligned with them.

In FIG. 4F the same basic embodiment of the bolt element is used as inFIGS. 4E and 2J but, instead of the noses 26 providing security againstrotation in FIG. 4E, only the longitudinal ribs 70 extending in theaxial direction are used at the tubular rivet portion 20.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4G the embodiment of FIG. 4E is used butwithout the ribs 70 extending in the longitudinal direction.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4H an embodiment is used similar to FIG. 4Gbut additionally provided with recesses 28 providing security againstrotation which interrupt the conical contact surface 22″, with therecesses 28 being disposed in the same radial planes at the raisedportions 90 at the free end 59 of the tubular rivet portion 20.

The embodiment of FIG. 4I corresponds essentially to that of FIG. 48 butis additionally supplemented with longitudinal ribs 70 extending in theaxial direction of the tubular rivet portion.

The embodiment of FIG. 4J is similar to that of FIG. 4I except that herethe polygonal basic shape of the tubular rivet portion in accordancewith FIG. 2M is used.

The precise design of the embodiment of FIG. 4K can be seen from FIGS.4Ki to 4Kv, it corresponds essentially to the embodiment of FIG. 4B butis additionally supplemented with the longitudinal ribs 70 which lie inthe same radial planes as the raised portions 90 and the recesses 28.

FIGS. SA to 5C show nut elements 10″ which all have in common axiallyextending longitudinal ribs 70 at the tubular rivet portion. In FIG. SAthese longitudinal ribs 70 are used in principal without additionalfeatures providing security against rotation if one ignores thepolygonal outer shape 96 of the head part 18″ at the element which, witha corresponding attachment to the sheet metal part, i.e. on thecountersinking of the head part within the sheet metal part likewiseensure a certain security against rotation relative to the sheet metalpart.

One can see here that the nut element has a pronounced contact surface22″ and that the ends of the longitudinal ribs 70 adjacent the head partof the element run out from this contact surface and terminate there.Radially outside of the pronounced contact surface there are two furtherring-like and conical contact surfaces 22′″ and 22″″, which are howeverrelatively narrow in comparison to the contact surface 22″. Thesesurfaces 22′″, 22″″ are not interrupted in this example of FIG. 5A byfeatures providing security against rotation.

In contrast, in the embodiment of FIG. 5B, recesses 28′ and 28″ areprovided. In this arrangement the longer recesses 28′, which arearranged in the same radial planes as the longitudinal ribs 70 and whichat least partly interrupt the edges 98 in the side surfaces 99 of thepolygonal head part 18″ are so arranged that they interrupt the twonarrow conical surfaces but do not extend into the broad conicalsurface.

The short recesses 28″ which are disposed between the longer recesses28′ and which partly interrupt the side surfaces 99 of the polygonalhead part of the element likewise interrupt the two narrow conicalcontact surfaces 22′″, 22″″ but not however the broad conical contactsurface 22″.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5C the axially extending longitudinal ribs 70at the tubular rivet portion are extended in accordance with theextensions 70′ of FIG. 2I so that the extensions 70′ form raisedportions at the rounded drawing surface 48 of the free end of thetubular rivet portion 20.

The FIGS. 6A to 6C again show nut elements, however, now with the basicformation of a ring bead 80 at the free end of the tubular rivet portion20. The basic shape of the nut element corresponds, apart from the ringbead, to the basic shape of the embodiments of FIGS. 5A to 5C. Morespecifically, the embodiment of FIG. 6A has alternating longer andshorter recesses 28′, 28″ providing security against rotation which aredesigned precisely as in FIG. SB.

In the embodiment of FIG. 6B longitudinal ribs 70 extending in the axialdirection are used instead of the longer and shorter recesses 28′, 28″providing security against rotation and run out at their ends adjacentthe head part at the broad conical surface and merge at their endsadjacent the free end of the tubular rivet portion into the ring beadwithout projecting radially beyond this ring bead.

In FIG. 6C the longitudinal ribs extending in the axial direction inaccordance with FIG. 6B are used together with the alternating longerand shorter recesses 28′, 28″ of FIG. 6A.

Finally, FIGS. 7A to 7C again show nut elements 10″ with the same basicshape as that of FIGS. SA to SC and 6A to 6C but here with the commonfeature of discrete raised portions 90 at the free end of the tubularrivet portion 20, more precisely at the rounded drawing surface 48 ofthe free end of the tubular rivet portion. Here, as in the otherembodiments shown, the discrete local raised portions 90 have a circularshape in plan view, which is, however, not absolutely essential. Forexample, elongated, oval raised portions or raised portions which arestar-like or polygonal in plan view could be used. Also, instead ofusing raised portions, local recesses could also be provided as in otherembodiments, which would then look similar to the local raised portionsbut would be concave instead of projecting.

In the embodiment of FIG. 7A the local raised portions are used incombination with alternating longer and shorter recesses 28′, 28″providing security against rotation at the head part of the element,which are designed in precisely the same way as in the embodiment ofFIGS. 5B and 6A.

In the embodiment of FIG. 7B the alternating recesses 28′, 28″ providingsecurity against rotation are not provided. Instead of this,longitudinal ribs 70 extending in the axial direction at the tubularrivet portion are used which correspond precisely in shape to those ofFIG. 5A.

Finally, FIG. 7C shows, as do also the detailed representations inaccordance with FIGS. 7Ci to 7Civ, an embodiment in accordance with FIG.7B but in combination with alternating recesses 28′, 28″ providingsecurity against rotation at the head part of the element 10″.

In all embodiments features of shape which represent raised portionssuch as for example ribs 70 extending in the longitudinal direction,their extensions 70′ or the raised portions 90 at the free end of thetubular rivet portion are provided with gently rounded contours in orderto avoid an unnecessary injury to the sheet metal part. In contrast, theembodiment with the ring bead have a relatively sharp-edged design ofthe ring bead at the radially broadest point and can be used withoutinjury to the sheet metal part having to be feared. If recesses such as28, 28′, 28″ are used, then these can merge in sharp-edged manner intothe outer jacket surface of the respective element, however, the baseregion of the recesses should be rounded, although in many cases thesheet metal material does not come into contact there because the sheetmetal material does not fully fill out the corresponding recesses.

Although in all the indicated embodiments it is always six features ofshape such as 70, 90, 26, 26′, 28, 28′, 28″ that are shown this isadmittedly reasonable but in no way to be considered to be restrictive.In place of this, fewer or more such features of shape can be providedwhich are normally, but not necessarily, uniformly distributed aroundthe central longitudinal axis.

Furthermore, it should also be stated that the present invention canalso be used with other functional elements which are provided with atubular rivet portion such as, for example, elements with an under headdesign as in the RND element of the company Profil VerbindungstechnikGmbH & Co. KG or with a rivet portion in accordance with the skirt nutor skirt bolt element of the same company.

In particular, the functional element can have a ring-like contactsurface with at least one ring-like region which lies in a radial planeperpendicular to the central longitudinal axis of the functionalelement.

Furthermore, a ring-like groove can be provide radially inside aring-like region of the ring-like contact surface which lies in a radialplane perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis and which extendsaround the rivet portion and optionally forms a part of the contactsurface. In this embodiment the ring-like groove can have a surface setobliquely to the central longitudinal axis at the radially outer side,i.e. the groove would be at least approximately V-shaped incross-section.

Also ribs providing security against rotation extending in the radialdirection could be provided in the ring-like groove and could bridge thelatter partly or completely.

It would also be conceivable to provide cut-outs which interrupt theradially outer side of the ring-like groove and the ring-like region ofthe contact surface between the ribs providing security againstrotation.

Furthermore, a functional element could be provided which ischaracterised in that a head section having the ring-like contactsurface is provided, in that the shaft part of the bolt element isarranged at the same side of the head part as the ring-like contactsurface and projects away from the latter and in that the tubular rivetportion is disposed radially within the ring-like contact surface andradially outside of the shaft part.

A nut element could also be provided which is characterised in that ahead section having the ring-like contact surface is provided whichmerges into a tubular hollow shaft part projecting away from the headsection at the side of the contact surface, the shaft part beingsurrounded by the tubular rivet portion, with the free end face of theshaft part being further removed from the ring-like contact surface thanthe free end of the rivet portion.

In this embodiment the free end of the shaft part could be designed topierce a sheet metal part.

In an element of this kind, a thread can be provided in the head sectionand also in the region of the shaft part adjacent the head section. Whena conical contact surface is provided, the element could be designed andattached in accordance with the European patent application 02730181.1or in accordance with the document WO 03/089187.

In all embodiments, materials can be named by way of example for thematerial of the section and for the functional elements which aremanufactured from it which achieve strength values of class 8 inaccordance with the ISO Standard or higher in the context of colddeformation, for example a 35B2 alloy in accordance with DIN 1654. Thefastener elements formed in this way are also suitable for allcommercially available steel materials for drawing quality sheet metalparts and also for aluminium or its alloys. Aluminium alloys, inparticular those of higher strength, can also be used for the section orfor the functional elements, for example AlMg5. Sections or functionalelements of higher strength magnesium alloys, such as for example AM50,can also be considered.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A functional element (10′; 10″) having afunctional portion (16; 17; 17′), a generally tubular rivet portion witha free end (59) and an annular sheet metal contact surface (22; 22′;22″; 22″, 22′″, 22″″), wherein the tubular rivet portion has acylindrical surface and is adapted to be turned over radially outwardlyto form an annular rivet bead having a U-shape in cross section, thetubular rivet portion having features of shape (70; 70, 70′; 80; 80, 70;90; 90, 70) provided at the tubular rivet portion (20) and adapted togenerate co-movement of a sheet metal part (14) during the formation ofthe rivet bead, the features of shape being provided at least one of thefree end (59) of the rivet portion and at the radially outer side of thecylindrical surface of the rivet portion (20) adjacent to and extendingup to at least shortly before the free end of the rivet portion.
 2. Thefunctional element in accordance with claim 1, wherein the features ofshape are provided at the radially outer side of the cylindrical surfaceand comprise axially extending ribs (70; 70, 70′) at the cylindricalsurface of the rivet portion, which extend at least from a regionadjacent the contact surface (22; 22′; 22″; 22″, 22′″, 22″″) up to thefree end (59) of the rivet portion (20).
 3. The functional element inaccordance with claim 2, wherein the axially extending ribs (70) have aradially outwardly directed section at the annular contact surface (22″)at their ends adjacent the annular contact surface.
 4. The functionalelement in accordance with claim 2, wherein the axially extending ribs(70) have a rounded shape in cross-section and have an at leastsubstantially semicircular shape related to, adjacent to the cylindricaljacket surface of the rivet portion (20).
 5. The functional element inaccordance with claim 2, wherein a number of axially extending ribs (70)is provided, the number of axially-extending ribs (70) lying between 3and
 24. 6. The functional element in accordance with claim 1, whereinthe element is a self-piercing element (10′; 10″), in which the free end(59) of the rivet portion (20) is designed for the piercing of a sheetmetal part.
 7. The functional element in accordance with claim 1,wherein the free end face (59) of the rivet portion (20) has, at aradially inner side, a ring surface (50) which diverges in the directionaway from the annular contact surface, and, at a radially outer side, arounded drawing surface (48).
 8. The functional element in accordancewith claim 1, wherein noses (26) providing security against rotation arelocated in the region of a transition from the rivet portion (20) intothe annular contact surface (22, 22′; 22″) and have in side view an atleast substantially triangular shape.
 9. The functional element inaccordance claim 1, wherein the annular contact surface (22; 22′; 22″;22″, 22′″; 22″″) is a conical surface apart from any noses (26; 26′; 28;28, 28′, 28″) providing at least one of security against rotation andany cut-outs provided in the head part (18; 18′; 18″) or a flange regionof the functional element (10′; 10″), which project at least partlyradially into the ring-like contact surface (22; 22′; 22″; 22″, 22′″;22″″) open in the direction radially outwardly and have their largestcross-sectional dimensions at the radially outer surface of the headpart (18; 18′; 18″).
 10. The functional element in accordance with claim1, wherein the annular contact surface has at least one annular regionwhich lies on a radial plane perpendicular to the central longitudinalaxis (24) of the functional element.
 11. The functional element inaccordance with claim 1, wherein a annular groove is provided radiallyinside the annular region of the annular contact surface, which lies ina radial plane perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis, with thegroove extending around the rivet portion (20) and optionally forming apart of the contact surface.
 12. The functional element in accordancewith claim 11, wherein the annular groove has at the radially outer sidea surface which is obliquely set relative to the central longitudinalaxis, i.e. the groove is at least approximately V-shaped incross-section.
 13. The functional element in accordance with claim 11,wherein ribs providing security against rotation, which extend in theradial direction, are provided in the annular groove and partly orcompletely bridge the latter.
 14. The functional element in accordancewith claim 1, wherein the element is a bolt element (10′) having a headpart and a shaft part (16).
 15. The functional element in accordancewith claim 14, with the tubular rivet portion (40) being provided on theone side of the head part (18, 18′) and the shaft part (16) beingprovided on the other side of the head part (18, 18′) and with theannular contact surface (22; 22′; 22″) being provided at the side of thebolt element (10′) facing the rivet portion (20).
 16. The functionalelement in accordance with claim 14, wherein a head section having theannular contact surface is provided; in that the shaft part of the boltelement is arranged at the same side of the head part as the annularcontact surface and projects away from the latter and in that thetubular rivet portion (20) is provided radially within the annularcontact surface and radially outside of the shaft part.
 17. Thefunctional element in accordance with claim 16, wherein a head sectionhaving the annular contact surface is provided which merges into atubular hollow shaft part projecting from the head section at the sideof the contact surface, with the shaft part being surrounded by thetubular rivet portion (20), with a free end (59) of the shaft part beingfurther removed from the annular contact surface than the free end (59)of the rivet portion (20).
 18. The functional element in accordance withclaim 17, wherein the free end (59) of the shaft part is designed forpiercing of a sheet metal part.
 19. The functional element in accordancewith claim 18, wherein a thread is provided in the head section and alsoin the region of the shaft part adjacent the head section.